This week's post comes from guest blogger Constance Potter, who is a reference archivist at the National Archives in Research Services, Archival Operations-Washington, DC. Connie is the lead expert on reference relating to the upcoming 1940 Census release on April 2, 2012. Today we focus on the places where you can find a person in an … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Where is “Fred Tiffany” in an Enumeration District in the 1940 Census?
Category: Digitization
Connect with Us on iTunes U
The National Archives just joined iTunes U, a dedicated area within the iTunes Store giving users public access to thousands of free lectures, videos, books and podcasts from learning institutions all over the world. If you already have iTunes on your iPhone, iPad, iPod, or computer, you can search for "National Archives" on iTunes U to … Continue reading Connect with Us on iTunes U
Changing Our Perspective: Looking at Our Quality Efforts from the Outside In
The following is a guest post by Kate Murray, Digitization Process Development Specialist at the National Archives. Recently I had what I can only describe as a Eureka moment. I was attending an informal presentation by Hans Westerhoff describing the Images for the Future project in the Netherlands. He said one of the most … Continue reading Changing Our Perspective: Looking at Our Quality Efforts from the Outside In
Online catalog now links to Wikimedia resources
A few weeks ago on The Text Message, I introduced Wikimedia's Wikisource project to you. A sister project of Wikipedia, Wikisource is a free repository of primary-source texts which are transcribed, proofread, and arranged—like Wikipedia—collaboratively by a community of online volunteers. It is my pleasure to announce that, since August 15, Wikimedia's presence now extends … Continue reading Online catalog now links to Wikimedia resources
Wikipedia Backstage Pass Tour and Scanathon
On Saturday, August 6, more than a dozen Wikipedians attended the backstage pass tour and scanathon at the United States National Archives in College Park, Maryland. The day began at around 11 a.m., as attendees mingled casually among snacks and swag in a lecture room while others passed through security and registered for visitors … Continue reading Wikipedia Backstage Pass Tour and Scanathon
Are You Preparing for the 1940 Census? We are!
Do you have the opening of the 1940 Census on April 2, 2012 marked on your calendar? We do here at the National Archives. For past Census releases we provided access to the Census on microfilm. For the 1940 Census we will be providing free online access. You’ll be able to search on the internet using … Continue reading Are You Preparing for the 1940 Census? We are!
Results Should Not Vary: Pursuing Quality in Digitization Services
In Digitization Services, we’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about quality. What does it mean? How do we measure it? And why should we care about it? After the establishment of the Products and Services (P&S) web portal resource in 2010 (see the http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/?p=5320 blog post), Digitization Services knew we still had more … Continue reading Results Should Not Vary: Pursuing Quality in Digitization Services
Open Gov Goes Local! Transparency in Digitization Services
The Digitization Services or IDS (formerly known as the Special Media Preservation Division) is NARA’s primary source of in-house digitization and analog reformatting of motion picture film, audio, video, photographs, aerial film, textual documents, cartographic documents, microfilm, and microfiche. 2010 was a year of introspection and change for us. Inspired in part by the Open … Continue reading Open Gov Goes Local! Transparency in Digitization Services
Meet Our Wikipedian in Residence: Dominic McDevitt-Parks
We asked our new Wikipedian in Residence, Dominic McDevitt-Parks, to tell us a little bit about himself and his passion for Wikipedia. Welcome to the National Archives, Dominic! Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? What do you study in school? I am a history buff, a word nerd, a news junkie, … Continue reading Meet Our Wikipedian in Residence: Dominic McDevitt-Parks
Family Tree Friday: 1940 Census opens next April
Today's post is brought to you by Constance Potter, Archivist in the Archives I Research Support Branch, and Jennifer Dryer of Archives II, who is currently cross-training at Archives I. The release of the 1940 population census schedules is approaching! It will be released digitally on April 2, 2012. You will be able to access … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: 1940 Census opens next April